Pyne takes second at Crawfordsville; fourth in GNCC

Bloomfield motorcycle racer Jacob Pyne recently wrapped up his racing season with a second place finish in the GNCC Ironman at Crawfordsville.(Submitted photo).

The 11-year-old dirt bike racer just recently wrapped up the final round of the 13-stop Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series at the Ironman in Crawfordsville.

More than 1,500 racers competed the weekend of Oct. 26-27. The event included four-wheeled ATV racing on Saturday and dirt bikes on Sunday.

Classes ranged from riders as young as six and as old as the 50-plus division. The Ironman Event is the largest for the GNCC series and pulls in a spectator crowd of thousands.

Heading into the event, Pyne was ranked third in the national series and was ready to defend his spot. He knew that he would need a win and some luck for that to happen. On Sunday he woke up to clear skies and cool temps which made for great racing.

Pyne made his way to the starting line at 7:45 a.m. anticipating a short delay in the normal 8 a.m. start. He chose his line of attack and discussed his strategy with his trainer, Chris Bach of Crown Point.

With the 20-minute delay past him, the flagger began his one-minute separated starts with each class of racers. Pyne's class was the sixth to leave the starting area, which in turn meant that approximately 100 racers had taken off before his class even hit the trail.

The course that GNCC Trail Boss Jeff Russell had prepared for the youths was not only 5 to 6 miles in length, but was littered with various creek crossings and challenging mud holes.

Pyne was focused and pulled his best start of the season. He had the hole shot and maintained it through all the "s" curves in the field and into the first woods section.

In that section the first obstacle proved too much for some of the youth racers that had started prior to Pyne. It was a creek crossing that not only had mud on the other side that was eight inches deep but had a steep incline.

Pyne proved that he was there to battle and went right up the muddy creek climb with no issue. Pyne lead the almost the entire first lap but had one of his fiercest competitors on his tail.

During the second lap, Pyne would tangle with one of the mud holes that allowed his competition to get past him. He fought the remainder of the hour and a half race to reel him back in but was unable. Pyne was very pleased with his run and glad that his family was able to see him on the podium accepting his second place trophy.

When asked on the podium about the race he said, "The first lap was tough and I know that Kaleb was right there and then I got stuck in a mud hole. He got past me and I couldn't ever catch him. I then knew that I had to hold my second-place spot.

"The track changed every lap. One lap it would be easier and the next would be hard again. I tried to just hold my own in the mud."

His second-place finish dropped Pyne to fourth in the final series rankings. But he was only two points away from the second- and third-place finishers that actually finished in a tie.

Pyne competed in the 65cc 10-11 class for the 13-round series and proved that he was going to be one of the top contenders early on.

This class has been one of the toughest and closest stacked talent wise that Pyne has ever raced. In fact, the last six races of the series had a different winner at each site, Pyne being one of those.

Other then a 16th-place finish due to mechanical issues, all of Pyne's finishes for the season were in the top five and the most consistent of the entire class. The series final points are figured on the racers best 8 out of 13. So, Pyne's final series points are scored on all top three finishes, including a win, and one fifth-place finish.

Pyne has now been invited to a Banquet that will be held in Morgantown, WV on Dec, 5 to be recognized as one of the top youth off-road racers in the nation.

Pyne rode the series on his 2009 65cc KTM with help from his sponsors, Performance Supercycle out of Cookeville, TN, Moose Racing, Johnny Signs, Motorex, Scotland Snapper, Smith Googles, and Mom and Dad.

His final comment on the podium was, "It was an awesome race and I want to make a call out to my friend, Drake Frederick for helping with my pit stop today."

Pyne is in the sixth grade at Bloomfield Elementary School. His parents are Jared and Brooke Pyne of Bloomfield, Grandparents are Mark and Teresa Myers of Bloomfield; Odell and Judy Wright of Bloomfield; and Linda and Richard Pyne of Bloomfield.